


Jasper's Wartime Sadventures

by orphan_account



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Gratuitous OCs, Military Sci Fi, Pre-Series, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-29
Updated: 2015-07-29
Packaged: 2018-04-11 22:21:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4454576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of memories from the great war for Earth, centered around Jasper.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day 145

**Author's Note:**

> These are a combination of failed full stories, elements from trashed fictions, and cool down exercises I did after writing chapters of Wildebeest. Includes a lot of assumptions about gem technology and society that will likely be Jossed by the Crewniverse in the future, and is at least partially inspired by the novel Starship Troopers and other problematic mid 20th century military sci fi. I don't want to bother my editor with more than e already has to deal with, so don't expect anything to make sense.

Homeworld had been on the back foot since the negotiations ended. Over a quarter of the entire Gem military had risen in rebellion on Earth. Thankfully the loyalists still had dominion in space for the time being as most of the pink battle cruisers were grounded for maintenance when the fighting broke out. The handful of units that remained loyal, had been using this to their advantage, analyzing their orbital surveillance to outmaneuver the insurgents. Their armies consolidated ground forces in the region that would later become known as Siberia. It was going to be over two years before any support could arrive. Rumors said that every single fleet was being recalled to combat the rebellion, that the entirety of the off world aquatic combat division was being summoned to fight on the ocean rich planet. There were also rumors that there was a battalion of trained aquanauts stationed on Titan, but with the warps out of their hands it didn’t really matter. Any forces coming from out of the solar system would wait to group up around Uranus so that they could make a single concise push into the rebel territory. At that rate it would be a decade before the bulk of the support could make it to the Earth.

The Galaxy warp had been taken by the rebels in the first days of the conflict. During peacetime warps were strictly for VIPs, but now they were essential for planetary mobility. It was no doubt the warp would be incredibly well guarded. They had to keep the pressure up though, the more that Rose Quartz’s armies were focused on destroying the trapped loyalists, the less they could invest in preparing their ships for the invading Homeworld fleet.

Witness to it all was Jasper, a warrior Gem only a hundred days old, being forced to fight a war against the people who wanted the liberation of her birth planet. She had never known a time that wasn't war, neither had she ever been to Homeworld. She had no real love for either side of the conflict. Still, Jasper was a dutiful soldier, and her performance in training had earned her a place above her peers. She was eager to see real battle. So far their platoon had only made contact with scouts and stragglers, who were often dead before she had the chance to summon her helm. But that was all supposed to change today.

Jasper’s company was breaking camp. She watched as the servants bustled about packing up tents and equipment. A few late bloomers were curled up in each other's arms, revealed when a pearl whipped off the canvas assuming no one was inside. Last night it seemed like half the battalion had paired off; despite, or perhaps because, they were incredibly likely to make contact with the rebels today. Jasper didn’t care for sex, she had simply sat around and played cards with whatever other celibate soldiers walked by, like she did every rest period.

She smirked as one of the recently evicted tenants summoned a mace and chased the pearl up and down the rows of tents that still needed to be broken down. They had been marching for forty days only ever stopping to receive and relay orders from the east hemisphere’s orbital surveillance platform and to rest. The 775th landlocked infantry was a hardy bunch of Gems, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t get fatigued after weeks of forced march.  
Jasper stepped up to the parade ground where troops were already forming their marching lines. Surrounding the clearing was a ring of six camps all in various states of deconstruction. She noticed her platoon leader leaning against a crate of equipment, lazily eyeing the ordnance identification tag that drooped from its corner.

“Lieutenant Agate,” Jasper saluted, “My squadron is prepped and ready for the march, Ser.” Agate peered over at the line of battle ready Gems silently standing at attention behind Jasper.

“Fine work Corporal.” She commented as she defocused her eyes again. She was a wispy Gem of a similar color to Jasper, hair in a neat bob. She was a knight, a royal of the lowest rank and actually expected to fight alongside the Gems she commanded. She looked like she couldn’t be more bored by the prospect, she hadn’t even phased into her uniform yet.

“Thank you, Ser,” said Jasper as she moved her squad near the few others forming before the Lieutenant.  
Spaces around her began to fill up with other warrior Gems, the lines of Gems all forming a tiered circle around the center of the parade ground. Rings inward increased in importance. At the center was Lieutenant Colonel Turquoise gently floating a few feet off the ground, giving commands to her officers. She was a Countess during peacetime, but now she was leading a full battalion of soldiers, over two thousand Gems including the servants and support.troops. Her form was far less organic looking than any of the other Gems there, and was made up of several oblong ovals coming together at infinitely small points. She danced about on thin air pointing and shouting.

Soon the whole crowd had gathered. Various servants on the outermost ring carrying packs full of military equipment and munitions. Technicians and artillerygems just inside of that. Directly behind her squad she could hear the company’s marching band readying their instruments. In front of her a pearl came over and scooped up the crate that Agate had been leaning on, much to her chagrin. She didn’t make a big deal out of it though, she simply phased in her uniform and stood in front of her sergeants, facing them. The officers faced out as their troops faced in, marking the clear difference between the royal commanding class and the lowly warrior caste. The highest rank Jasper could ever hope to achieve would be sergeant major, or maybe a warrant officer.

 

Turquoise’s voice boomed over the silent ranks.  
“Attention to the 775th landlocked infantry. For the last three months we have been retreating, fleeing from an enemy who's troops now cover more than 95% of Earth's planetary production. This ends today. We are done with running. We march due East. We will meet the enemy on their own field and show them that the remaining Loyalist troops on earth aren’t to be ignored. When the reinforcements arrive from Homeworld there will be no rebels left for them to face, and we will hand the planet over on a silver platter."  
The crowd cheered. It felt like a stock pep talk but Jasper still found herself getting into the emotion of the scene.

“Now I shall lead us in prayer.” The whole battalion knelt at this, speaking the prayer they all knew by heart. It was the prayer of the infantry.

“White Zircon bless those about to shatter, and let them find peace as their consciousness is split and returns to the universe.  
Yellow Diamond give us reason so that we might not fail in judgment, and so we shall know our foe.  
Blue Topaz lend us strength so that we might not falter, and that our enemies would fall by our hands.”

There was a slight mumbling at the end. Some of the older Gems present had memorized the prayer prior to Rose Quartz’s rebellion. Jasper had never learned the old words. It was something about love, though. What business did love have on a battlefield?


	2. Day 89,566

“Gems, the information you are about to receive, does not exist.”

“We are losing this war.”

Jasper was in a dark room aboard the ICW Inordinate Force, a capital warship orbiting the now besieged Gem Colony Planet: Earth. Jasper was in a room full of Gems she recognized, but had never met. Around the table was a veritable collection of non commissioned war heros. Rubies who had burned out important human settlements, Amethysts who had infiltrated and freed POW camps, Agates who had protected their platoons with great sacrifice, and Jasper’s own contemporaries who had their fair share of combat kills.

Across the table were other Gems that Jasper recognized. Generals and Admirals and, in the center with her back turned quietly discussing something with her secretaries, Yellow Diamond herself.

“This is why we’ve gathered you here.”

“You are the most skilled soldiers that this war has produced.”  
“You have a series of specialized assets that caused you to be selected for this mission.”

“And you have all proven that you will do whatever it takes to secure a Homeworld victory. That you all would give up your own lives for the protection of Gem kind.” To that there was a murmur of affirmations from the small crowd of fifteen or so soldiers.

“Rose Quartz,” there was a shudder among the Gems on Jasper’s side of the room at the mention of her name, “has used advanced tactics to pit the very environment of Earth against us.”

“Quite frankly, we are running out of options.”

“Yellow Diamond will be briefing you directly.” The board of commanders turned to the standing field marshall who was still talking to her personal assistant. The room was deathly quiet and Jasper could just about make out what she was saying.

“Tell them I will not authorize use of the project until- No, tell them it’s an order directly from me. Blue Topaz? There’s no way she would sign off- really? Then you have a lot of work ahead of you. Now go, report to me when you’re done. Wait, tell them I need ten years, then haggle them down to five, no less. Okay.”

With that she turned to survey the quiet room. It was odd to see Yellow Diamond, a Gem who was so built up in the lore of their culture, be in a moment of vulnerability. She looked disheveled, parts of her outfit were misaligned. She had been running this war for over two hundred years and it had clearly taken a toll on her. She turned to her ground Generals.

“These are the best you had?” A question that made Jasper feel empty inside. She called back at her leaving assistant. “Make that four years.” A red Gem, General Bloodstone spoke up.

“With the developments in Kinder-”  
“Oh no! You will not give me excuses!” Yellow Diamond shouted grabbing the smaller Gem out of her chair and throwing her onto the table. “You will give me results!” And with that she plunged a sharp dagger deep into the eye of Bloodstone. Jasper hadn’t seen from where Yellow Diamond produced it, but Bloodstone was screaming. Yellow Diamond twisted the knife until the General unceremoniously popped, the knife buried deep into the mineral of the table below where her body used to be.

“Sorry you had to see that, Soldiers.” Yellow Diamond said throwing the Gem over her shoulder for a few Pearls to clean up. “My underlings have been very good at disappointing me over the past decade. Anyway, you’re here for a mission that might just turn the tide of this little war.” She pointed to the left side of the room. A holographic map that suddenly sprung up above the table. “Intelligence that has come at great cost, suggests that pink troops are camped here.” A region on the map lighting up. “They have been using the domestic warp in this area to move troops and special equipment. This special equipment is your target. Rose’s global barriers still prevent us from bombarding the site, or dropping Terranaughts directly on top of them. So you are going to infiltrate their warp system and warp directly into the center of their camp. We will pull their attention with a traditional ground push from the east. Two teams will go in. Sergeant Major Jasper, you will lead your sisters due North of the warp straight to the largest tent, where you will secure and destroy their precious cargo. The rest of you are to distract any guards who are still present at the beginning of the fighting. With any luck this could win us the war. The assault begins in three days. There is very little chance of extraction, so use the time to meditate and reflect on your duty. Do this and your names will go down in the stone of ages. Do not disappoint me.” And with that she turned and strode out of the war room. The remaining brass elaborated on the plans, divvying out packets of information. The folder that Jasper had gotten was missing critical information: what exactly the “precious cargo” was. On her way out to the hangar a Pearl came up to her and saluted.

“Sergeant Major Jasper, Yellow Diamond would like to speak with you privately.”

It was an honor to be lead straight to the quarters of her Empress. Despite her impressive career she had never even considered that she would ever receive an audience with Yellow Diamond. They had been in the same room before, even been on the same battlefield, but this would be the first time she, a lowly Jasper, would ever speak to someone so Highborn.

She kneeled when she entered the suite, It looked completely different from the rest of the cold military architecture of the warship. It was a spacious and curvy series of rooms that served as Yellow Diamond’s home away from palace when she was off waging war and conquering star systems. The Empress herself was pacing at the far end of the foyer. Next to her the assistant from earlier, a short thin gem with a bookish face who scribbled away on a notepad as Yellow Diamond moved to address her visitor.

“Rise, if you would Jasper. I do not have much time, but I do feel like this meeting is necessary, given the circumstances.” Jasper did as she was bid and stood herself in the presence of the eight foot woman.

“To what do I owe the pleasure, Your Majesty?” She asked.

“It is not an easy thing to kill a God; not only physically, but emotionally.” Came the cryptic answer. Yellow Diamond was pacing again. “Jasper, I have chosen you for this assignment not only because of your impressive dossier, but because of what your are. You are a child a war, there has never been a time in your life during which you haven’t considered Rose Quartz a villain and a traitor. You have never known her to be an Empress like me, and so you have no hang ups about bearing arms against her. I know Rose Quartz, if there is any hesitation, any doubt in your mind, she will turn you against me, against Homeworld.”

There was a silence as Yellow Diamond gathered her thoughts. It was only broken by the simple rhythmic scratching from her personal assistant. A Black Pearl? Jasper couldn’t tell.

“Explaining this is not why I summoned you here, you already know who you are. The reason for your presence, now. I felt it necessary that, if we were to go through with these underhanded tactics, I look her in the eye and tell her myself.”

“Look who in the eye, Your Majesty?”

“The Gem I’m asking to kill my sister.”

 


End file.
